Founding year: the first Keedysville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1872.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Keedysville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Keedysville is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Keedysville’s overall grade.
Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Keedysville’s 1,860 sits above most of its state (98% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 220 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1872.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Keedysville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first documented house in Keedysville was built in 1738. The description for George Gordon's "Gordon's Purchase" land tract notes "...one log house, 12 x 15 feet..." The initial warrant for the tract had been issued to Owen McDonald in Jan. 1738, the year before Gordon acquired it. Gordon's Purchase was the first tract taken up by a Euromerican within what would eventually become Keedysville. The main road at that time was the Conococheague Road, which branched from the Great Wagon Road just east of Keedysville and led to the farthest reaches of the provence, passing through what would eventually be Keedysville. The house and its exact location are unknown but the starting point for Gordon's Purchase was on today's Bell Lane.
Passages that mention Keedysville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown1906 · page 491Read the page →
Read the text
substantial brick church was erected on land given by the late Samuel Cost. The comer stone bears this inscription: “August 28tli, 1852, Mt. Vernon German Reformed Church, of Keedysville.” From those living at the time, we learn that this church was consecrated late in the fall, by the pastor, the Rev. Robert Douglass, During the day of the battle of Antietam,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A brief history of the Andrew Putman (Buttman, Putnam) Christian Wyandt (Weyandt, Weygandt, Voint, Wyand) and Adam Snyder families (Schneider) of Washington County, Maryland1909Read the page →
Read the text
the farms of Mrs. Frank Keyfauver and William G. Smith. Simon Wyand owned the farm now occupied by his son, Caleb Wyand, in the west end of Keedysville, Md. This tract formerly embraced all the lower portion of the town site. A copy of the deed from Simon Wyand to the Vestry of Mt. Vernon Reformed Church, for the land upon which the church stands is on file at the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Keedysville, 1848 to 1944
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Keedysville’s post office has been open since 1848.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Taylor Heights
1cemetery inside Keedysville
Fairview
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Keedysville’s history
What year was Keedysville founded?
The Keedysville post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1872.
How does Keedysville rank for history?
Keedysville is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Keedysville?
8 listings: 6 buildings, 1 historic district, the Keedysville Historic District, with 198 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 220 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Keedysville?
18% of Keedysville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 2002.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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